Demagogue

The Washington Post had an interesting article on tomorrow's election in the Democratic Republic of Congo, its first in more than forty years.

Joseph Kabila, the current president and unpopular front-runner, is apparently disliked by pretty much everyone outside of his native eastern section of the country because he is incompetent

Yet voters complain about a shortage of accomplishments from a government that provides few public services. The United Nations keeps the peace. The World Bank builds the roads. Private clinics provide most health care. Few Congolese have access to public water or electricity, and for those who do, the service is erratic. Police are regarded as useless or corrupt. Unemployment is rampant.

Kabila's one claim to fame is that he managed to sign a peace accord that ended the DRC's five year war, though the country is still devestated - earlier this week, UNICEF reported that more than 600 children are dying every day.

So Kabila has apparently taken a page from Rove's campaign playbook

Kabila echoed the idea in a final rally in Kinshasa on Friday. "I can say to you, without false modesty: mission accomplished," he said, according to the Associated Press. "We've reunited and pacified the country."

I wonder if Kabila was dressed-up in a flight suit when he said that.